Thunderbirds Series 1, Episode 6: Fear
by SatNavDan
Summary: Thunderbird 3 is sent to Mars to help rescue a mining team trapped deep underground by a mysterious earthquake. But what could've caused such a thing? And why is Beth really afraid to be going to the Red Planet despite having never been before?
1. Pre-Titles

COMPASS Mining Corporation was one of biggest companies of its kind to be based on Earth. It was a joint British and Polish company employing people from both countries as well as others. It was unique in the fact it held the distinction of being the most advanced in outer space exploration and mining. As well as having successful mining operations on Earth, it had become the first to successfully set one up on the Moon and on a couple of asteroids without there being any mishaps. Now it had achieved another first – to be the first to set up a mining operation on another planet – Mars!

The company had a spotless record when it came to business, profit, safety and security which CEO Gareth Jones had no intention of letting that slip. He wasn't one of those businessmen who were greedy and penny-pinching. He cared deeply about those who worked for him and always made sure they had his full support.

Whilst Gareth worked in the company headquarters back on Earth supported by his personal assistant Pamela Strycharska, the complex on Mars was managed by Gareth's wife Kasia who supervised the two teams that took turns in going down to explore the vast underground caverns that had been found during exploration trips to the planet. Team A was led by Sarah Cummings and her team consisted of Richard Harper, Joshua Andrews, José Fernandez, Peter Dickinson, Shannen Davies and Chloé Richardson whilst Team B was led by Adriana Romano and her team consisted of Faye Turner, Klaudia Klaudina, Lucy Wells, Connor Partridge, Paris Court and Stuart Armstrong. Catering for the miners was handled by Grace Wilson. They were the amongst the best in the Compass Mining Corporation and had all been handpicked by Gareth and Kasia to work on their most challenging project to date.

The Mars complex had been in operation for just over a week now with each team working ten hour shifts. They would be allowed one hour for breakfast before going down into the underground tunnels and one hour for dinner once they came back. They would then have twelve hours' rest period to sleep whilst the other team had their turn down the mine. It was a routine everyone had got to know well and it was a routine they were all happy with.

* * *

Team A were just finishing their final checks of equipment before stepping into the elevator that would take them down the shaft to the tunnels. Sarah was very strict when it came to safety and equipment and wouldn't let everyone proceed until she'd double-checked that everything was in order.

"Roll call guys," Sarah said. "Rich?"

"Here!" said Richard.

"Josh?"

"Here!" Josh answered.

"José?"

"Yes, I'm here," he said.

"Peter?"

"Ta-da!" said Peter which caused Sarah to glare at him for a moment.

"Shannen?"

"Yes," said Shannen.

"Chloé?"

"Present," Chloé said.

"Good," said Sarah. "We all have what we need. Let's go."

Kasia came over from her office to see them off. "Is everything okay?" she asked.

"Yes, Kasia, we're all set," said Sarah.

"Excellent," said Kasia. She looked down at her watch. "I best not keep you waiting. Enjoy yourselves."

"Thanks," said Sarah as she joined her team in the elevator. Once the doors had closed it began to descend down the fifty metre shaft to the tunnels down below where there were three tunnels in front of them.

Once the elevator had arrived, the doors opened and Sarah led her team out. "You know where you're going," she said checking her watch. "It's 01:00 hours so meet back at our designated rest area for a break. Everyone clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," the miners all said together.

"Off you go then," said Sarah.

The miners headed off in pairs. Richard and Josh went together down one tunnel whilst Peter and José went down the second and Shannen and Chloé went down the third.

* * *

Kasia had returned to her office and made a video call to Gareth.

"How's everything going?" Gareth asked.

"Everything fine," smiled Kasia. "Sarah's team have just started their shift."

"Great," said Gareth. "I know we've had no luck yet in finding anything yet but I'm sure our patience will be rewarded soon."

* * *

It wasn't long before the miners reached their designated places to begin digging for minerals and any other secrets that Mars had to offer. Peter was probably the most eager out of all the miners and couldn't wait to have first go on the powerful drill that he'd been given to task of operating.

"Is she ready?" Peter asked José.

"Yeah, she ready, Pete," José replied. "Fire her up!"

Peter pointed the drill at the rocks in front of him and started it up. "Okay, baby, let's dance!" he said putting the tip of the drill into the rock.

Suddenly there was a loud shriek which caused them to throw their hands over their ears. The shriek echoed throughout the tunnels alarming the other miners. It also travelled up the shaft into the complex above startling Kasia and waking Adriana and her team up from their sleep.

"Guys, report!" Sarah said into her radio once the shrieking had stopped.

But before anyone could answer, there was a loud rumbling sound and the tunnels started to shake violently. The miners were thrown off their feet and looked around in alarm as cracks began appearing in the tunnel walls and ceiling. The complex above also started to shudder and shake knocking Kasia out of her chair and throwing the other miners out of their beds. Their spotless safety record was about to be shattered.

5! (DUN)

4! (DUN)

3! (DUN)

2! (DUN)

1! (EXPLOSION)

*Thunderbirds theme plays*

"THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO!"


	2. Act I

The whole area around the mining complex was shaking. Cracks appeared in the surface and in some places, huge jets of boiling hot lava shot upwards like mini volcano eruptions. The ground under the complex itself made a sudden and violent shift with one side getting lower and the other rising.

Shannen and Chloé had been trying to make it back to the shaft when the ground shifted.

"GET DOWN!" Chloé yelled pulling Shannen back just as a large rock fell down towards them. They just managed to get out of the way in time.

It was only just over a minute when the vibrations suddenly stopped just as suddenly as they had started. However, the damage was done. As Sarah picked herself up off the ground, she looked round to see that a rock fall had blocked the way back to the elevator. However, this wasn't her immediate concern right now as she scrambled to pick up her walkie-talkie. "Guys, this is Sarah. Can you hear me?" But there was no reply from any of her team. "Kasia, this is Sarah. Are you receiving me?" No reply from up top either. Worry flowing through her veins, Sarah headed off down the nearest tunnel in search of her team. "Shannen? Chloé? Where are you?" she called out.

"Sarah?" the voice of Chloé called back. "We're round here!"

Sarah hurried round a bend in the tunnel and found the two girls stuck behind the large rock that had fallen. "Oh, thank God!" Sarah gasped as she pushed herself round the back of the rock. "Are you okay?"

"I am," said Chloé, "but I think Shannen may have just twisted her ankle."

Shannen did indeed look in some form of discomfort. "Ow, that hurts!" she cried.

Sarah bent down and felt around Shannen's left ankle. "It doesn't feel like it's broken which is good," she said. "You're just going to have to sit tight until we can get you out of here."

"What happened though?" asked Chloé. "That felt like an earthquake."

"And what about the others?" Shannen asked.

"I don't know," said Sarah. "Chloé, can you stay with her? It might be an idea to move her carefully out of this tunnel where it's a bit safer. I need to go and look for the others."

"Sure," said Chloé.

Together they helped Shannen up and walked her along the tunnel until they reached a large open cavern with a river of lava flowing down one side of it.

"Okay, now stay here," Sarah told them. "I'll be back soon, I promise."

Chloé rested Shannen down against the rock wall and nursed her ankle as Sarah headed off down the cavern in search of the others.

* * *

Adriana was hurrying through the sleeping quarters checking on her own team. "Are you guys okay?" she asked when she reached the girls' room.

"Been better," groaned Lucy as she helped Faye up off the floor.

"What the hell happened?" asked Klaudia. "Was that an earthquake?"

"I wish I knew," said Adriana. "I know you're all okay but Sarah and her team are down in the tunnels and they could be in trouble."

" _They're_ in trouble?" remarked Faye after Adriana had gone. "I think we're all in bloody trouble after that!"

Adriana hurried out to the shaft where she found Kasia trying to contact Sarah.

"Sarah, it's Kasia, do you read me?"

"You get no answer?" asked Adriana.

"No," said Kasia. She sounded just as shaken as the others. "And I cannot get hold of Gareth. I was on video-call to him when it happened."

"Well, he'll know we've got problem so he should send help out to us, shouldn't he?" Adriana asked.

"Well, yes, but it will take six weeks for anyone to get out here," said Kasia. She tried the radio again. "Sarah, come in please. Are you receiving me?"

Adriana went over to the shaft and looked down. What she saw down it made her eyes widened with horror. "Kasia!"

Kasia came over. "What is it?" she asked as Adriana pointed down the shaft. Kasia looked over and froze. The shift in the rocks had dramatically changed the shape of the shaft. There was now only a narrow gap about halfway down. The elevator cable looked to be intact but there was no way the elevator cage would be able to fit through the gap. The miners down in the tunnels had no way out.

* * *

Gareth was pacing around his office running his fingers through his hair. "What the hell's happened up there?" he was asking. "Something bad has happened, I know it!"

Pamela was sitting at his desk trying to re-establish contact but to no avail. "You say you saw something before the link cut out?" she asked.

"Yes, Kasia was reacting in alarm," said Gareth. "It looked like her office was shaking, like it was being caused by something."

"Earthquake perhaps?" suggested Pamela.

"Earthquake? No, it can't be," Gareth said. "There have been no reports of Mars having earthquakes."

"Mars is still largely unexplored," Pamela pointed out. "There's no knowing what dangers that planet has that we don't know about."

Gareth rubbed his hand over his face. "My wife's up there, Pam," he said. "And what I can do to help her? Not a DAMN BLOODY THING!" He kicked the filing cabinet in frustration, which hurt more than he was expecting. Pamela had to rush over and help him into a nearby seat. "Oh, Pam. I don't know what to do?"

"First of all, you will calm down, Mr Jones," said Pamela. "Getting worked up isn't going to solve anything. I will call our space division and NASA and get them to organise a rescue team."

"But it'll take them six weeks or more to get there," Gareth said. "They might not even be able to last a day for all we know!"

Both were quiet for a moment. The only sound in the office was the small television which was currently showing a breaking news report from Las Vegas.

"This is Cat Cavanagh reporting live from outside Las Vegas where a fire has broken out in one of the casinos. It's got too big for the local fire department to handle alone, so International Rescue have been called and are now arriving on the scene."

Gareth's ears perked up. Then an idea came to him. "That's it!" he said. "I've got it! Pam, don't call NASA. It's International Rescue we need!"

* * *

Beth was sound asleep in her bed in the Tracy Mansion. She and Adrienne had been out on a mission with Thunderbird 2 the day before on what had been a fourteen-hour long mission. When the call from Las Vegas had come through, Daniel had told both girls to sit the mission out as it was something that he, Katie, Wizzy and Leanna could handle with Sian and Cassidy tagging along. Beth was glad of the long rest, but it wasn't to last when a knocking noise on her bedroom door made her stir.

"Beth, wake up, we're needed!"

Beth groaned and rolled over. "Go away, Adie! I'm sleeping here!"

Adrienne opened the door. "Beth, come on, we've got a situation in space!" she said.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," mumbled Beth pulling the bedclothes over her head.

Adrienne sighed and came over to the bed. she put her hands under the sheets and grabbed hold of Beth's legs before pulling her out onto the floor.

"Oi!" spluttered Beth indignantly. "What the hell was that for?!"

"We haven't got time for this, Beth!" Adrienne said sharply. "Kerry's waiting to brief us, now come on!"

Adrienne left the room before Beth could reply. She picked herself up off the floor and got changed. She was in a very foul mood when she arrived in the lounge where Adrienne, Jodie, Zoë were waiting for her.

"You took your time," said Zoë disapprovingly. "This isn't the time for a lay-in."

"Oh, don't you start!" Beth snapped taking everyone by surprise.

Kerry then appeared on the holo-screen in the middle of the table. "Ah, Beth, there you are," she said. "Something the matter?"

"If you count being pulled out of bed by your own sister, yes!" said Beth crossly.

"She wouldn't get up, Kerry," Adrienne said. "It was the only way I could get her to."

"I see," said Kerry, sounding very unimpressed. "Anyway," she went on as she brought up a large image of a strange-looking building on the holo-screen. "This is the Compass Mining Corp's complex on Mars. I've had a call from the CEO's personal assistant saying they've lost contact with the team that's out there. She says the last thing he saw before it cut out was his wife in her office which apparently was shaking violently like it was caught in an earthquake."

"Mars has earthquakes?" asked Adrienne. "I never knew that."

"There's a lot of things about Mars that we still know very little about," Jodie said.

"How many miners are out there?" Adrienne asked.

"Fifteen," said Kerry. "Apparently Mr Jones, the CEO of Compass heard that we were dealing with the fire in Las Vegas and realised that asking us to go and find out what's happened would be quicker than what NASA could do."

"Makes sense," said Jodie. "Thunderbird 3 can get to Mars in just under four hours with the ion-fusion engine."

"We have no idea what state the mine or its workers are currently in so the sooner you get there the better," Kerry said. "Now off you go."

"F-A-B," said Adrienne. "Come on, Beth."

But Beth had gone strangely silent. She didn't look tired and grumpy now. Instead she looked rather pale and was looking at the table rather than the hologram.

"Beth?" said Kerry. "Beth!"

Beth jumped back to reality. "Oh, sorry, yes, of course," she stammered hurrying over to sit in her seat next to Adrienne. Once they'd sat down, the chairs began to descend into the floor. The gap was soon filled by two spare chairs so that there wasn't a huge gap left in the floor. After reaching a tunnel below the mansion, they were transferred a short distance on a trolley before being turned to face forwards. The chairs then split up as they travelled through two separate tunnels where robot arms helped them into their uniforms. The chairs were also turned around so that they re-joined the main tunnel facing backwards. They soon reached the very tall silo where Thunderbird 3 was located and a big yellow robot arm lifted them up to a hatch located just down from the nose cone. Once that had connected the rails inside, the chairs travelled forwards into the cockpit. The angle changed as they were now facing upwards in the direction of travel.

"Room for one more?" asked a voice.

Adrienne and Beth looked round to see Karolina coming into the cockpit to join them.

"Karolina!" exclaimed Adrienne. "You coming with us?"

"Yes, Kerry think you may need additional help as you don't know what you be dealing with out there," said Karolina.

"Great," said Beth although she didn't sound very enthusiastic. "Let's get on with it then."

The hatch was sealed and the giant revolving blast door sealed off all access to the silo and the big door at the top under the library roundhouse was opened ready for the launch.

5…4…3…2…1!

The mighty engines of Thunderbird 3 fired and it rose up through the silo and through the roundhouse, climbing high into the sky.

"Thunderbird 3 is go!" said Adrienne.

Once Thunderbird 3 had left Earth's orbit, Beth and Adrienne set course for Mars and fired up the ion-fusion engine which would get them there as quickly as possible.

* * *

Now that Thunderbird 3 had gone, Jodie, Zoë and Kerry began to talk about Beth. They could understand why she was grumpy because of Adrienne pulling her out of bed, but they were a bit concerned as to why she'd gone pale all of a sudden.

"For Beth that is very unusual," said Zoë.

"She was grumpy right up until you mentioned Mars," Jodie said to Kerry.

"Really?" Kerry said. "But why would that cause her to go pale. She's never been to Mars before."

"Should we tell Daniel?" asked Zoë.

"Not yet," said Kerry. "Wait until he's finished in Las Vegas and then we'll tell him."

Jodie had been thinking. "It was like she was afraid or something," she said. "Wait, you don't suppose that Moon mission last year might have something to do with it?"

"Oh…that!" said Zoë. "Well, if you're right, Jodie, then I can't blame her in the slightest."

"I'll get Daniel to talk to her," said Kerry. "If anyone can get her to open up, he can."

Jodie and Zoë both nodded in agreement.

Aboard Thunderbird 3, Beth and Adrienne had switched on the autopilot so they could relax and conserve their energy for the mission ahead.

"What's our E-T-A?" Karolina asked.

"About three hours, fifty minutes," said Adrienne. "It's going to be a long ride." She looked over at Beth who was sitting with her arms folded and gazing out of the windows. "You okay, Beth?"

"Fine," Beth answered shortly.

Adrienne sighed. "Look, I'm sorry about dragging you out of bed but…"

"Forget it," Beth said shortly again, still looking out of the window.

"I won't do it again, I prom-"

"I said forget it!" Beth snapped giving Adrienne a hard stare before looking away again.

Adrienne fell silent and sat back in her seat. Karolina was looking between the two girls. She'd never known either of them to have an argument like this before. Beth was certainly acting strange today.

* * *

Sarah had been able to locate Richard and Josh and was relieved to find both had escaped injury from the earthquake. She sent Josh to check on Chloé and Shannen whilst Richard joined her in the search for peter and José.

"Where exactly where they?" asked Richard.

"Down the middle tunnel," said Sarah. "I've got a horrible feeling that this is where the source of the quake started."

It didn't take them long to find several large fallen rocks blocking their path.

"Pete! José! Are you there?" Sarah called.

There came a pair of groaning sounds from the opposite side of the rocks.

"That's them!" said Richard. He and Sarah grabbed hold of the rock and used all their strength to shift it just enough so that they could squeeze through. They were surprised to find a part of the tunnel wall was completely missing with what looked a newly cut tunnel leading out of it.

Looking down, Sarah could see José lying on his back looking dazed whilst Peter was trapped under one of the rocks.

"Oh, my God!" Sarah gasped. "Rich, get Josh!"

Richard hurried off and soon returned with Josh. Together they all managed to move the rock of Peter's leg where it soon became clear he wasn't in good shape."

"I'm no doctor, but I'd say that's broken," Josh observed.

"Get me out of here, please!" Peter wailed.

"We can't move him in this state," said Richard.

Sarah, who was tending to José gasped slightly when some tiny little rocks suddenly dropped down from the ceiling. "Normally, I'd go with what Rich said," she said. "But this tunnel looks like it might collapse. "We'd best move him to where Chloé and Shannen are. Can you manage whilst I help José? I think he's hurt his knee."

Josh and Richard were both strong young men and had no trouble lifting Peter up off the ground after they'd made a temporary bandage for him. Sarah went ahead helping José who could just about hobble.

"Hey!" José said suddenly. "Where did the rocks go?"

"What rocks?" asked Sarah.

"There was this weird rock coil there," said José. "Peter started to drill into it and that's where the shrieking started."

Sarah frowned and looked at the tunnel. Could this be where the earthquake had started from, she wondered.

* * *

Kasia had still not been able to make contact with Gareth back on Earth. She'd almost given up trying but was distracted by Adriana and her team who were busy making a temporary hoist which would enable them to abseil down the shaft where they could drill away the rocks to make a large enough gap for the elevator to fit through.

"How's it going?" Kasia asked.

"We're ready," said Adriana. "Stuart and Connor are going to go down."

"Be careful, guys," said Kasia as the two young miners attached themselves to the hoist.

"Don't worry, ma'am, we shall," said Connor as he began to make his way down the shaft followed by Stuart. It didn't take them long to reach the narrow gap made by the shifted rocks and got their drilling equipment ready. "You ready, Stu?" Connor asked.

"Let's do this!" Stuart replied as they started up their drills and started chipping away at the rocks.

"This could take ages," Kasia told Adriana. "Can't more of you go down and help?"

Adriana looked down the shaft. "Yes, we can actually," she said. "We can fit two of my girls down there." She turned to Lucy, Faye, Klaudia and Paris who were standing nearby. Paris and Klaudia were holding the cables attached to Stuart and Connor so that ruled them out. "Faye, Lucy, get your gear and go help them," she said.

"Yes, Adriana," the two girls said heading off to get their equipment.

Suddenly the ground began shaking again causing the caverns and the whole of the mining complex to shake violently. Grace was knocked off her feet as pots and pans in her kitchen went flying. Adriana managed to grab Kasia before she toppled over the edge. Their whole world was becoming a nightmare.


	3. Act II

The fire in Las Vegas had been brought under control and Thunderbirds 1 and 2 were able to head back to Tracy Island. This had been one of their simpler missions so Daniel and the girls weren't feeling exhausted. They were in fact in high spirits.

"On our way home," Daniel said to Kerry. "Hopefully lunch has been laid on for us."

"Daniel, when you've got a moment, I think you should talk to Beth," Kerry said. "She's been acting strangely this morning."

"Thought she was having a lay-in today?" asked Katie.

"She was until we heard from the Compass Mining Corporation that they've lost contact with their Mars operation," said Kerry. "She's currently en-route to Mars in Thunderbird 3 with Adrienne and Karolina to see what's happened."

"I see," said Daniel. "New ground for us then. But what did you mean by acting strangely though?"

"Well, first of all she was grumpy because Adrienne pulled her out of her bed when she apparently refused to get up," said Kerry. "But as I was going through the mission briefing, she went very pale liked something had spooked her."

Daniel frowned, worried. The others were thinking the same.

"That doesn't sound like Beth at all," remarked Wizzy.

"Agreed," said Daniel. "Okay, Kerry, I'll talk to her. Thanks for bringing it to my attention."

"F-A-B," said Kerry and she signed off.

Daniel changed frequencies so that he could talk to Thunderbird 3. Like the others, he couldn't think why Beth would be acting the way she was and he intended to find out. "Thunderbird 3, this is Thunderbird 2, do you read me?"

Adrienne's hologram appeared. "Go ahead, Thunderbird 2. Receiving you strength five. I believe you've been informed of our mission?"

"Yes, I have, Adie," Daniel said. "Kerry's explained it all to me. However, that's not the reason why I'm calling. I need a word with Beth."

Adrienne looked over at her sister who had fallen asleep due to being so tired still. "She's…asleep at the moment," she said.

"Then wake her up," said Daniel. "It's going to be a while before you get back here so I need to talk to her now."

Adrienne hesitated. She'd already woken Beth up once and was feeling a bit guilty about it. However, she knew she couldn't disobey her father so she reached over and carefully prodded Beth's arm. "Beth?" she said. "Beth, wake up. Dad wants to talk to you. Beth!"

"AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!" Beth screamed loudly as she woke up making everyone jump. She sat wide-eyed and panting like she'd just awoken from a nightmare. Then she looked at her sister. "Oh, Adie, thank God it's you!" she gasped. "I thought…" She broke off, trying to get her breath back.

Adrienne and Karolina looked at each other, puzzled. It was the same inside Thunderbird 2 with all the girls exchanging confused looks whilst Daniel continued an unblinking stare at Beth.

"Beth, explain yourself," Daniel said.

Beth looked round and blinked in surprise when she saw him. "Oh, Dad!" she said, clearing her throat. "I'm so sorry. I must have fallen asleep."

"Never mind about that," said Daniel. "What the hell was that scream for?"

Beth gulped. "Er…" she began. "I…don't know, Dad. I…er…guess I was sound asleep and that Adie simply startled me."

Daniel frowned. "I've been informed that you've been acting strangely since this morning," he said. "I already know about you being pulled out of bed, but being snappy with the others? Screaming when woken up? That's not like you at all, Beth."

Beth felt ashamed of herself. "I know, Dad," she said. "I'm really sorry."

"It's not me who you should be apologising to," said Daniel sternly. "Now let's get to the point now, Beth. What is troubling you? Kerry said you went pale when she was giving you the mission briefing."

Beth looked at her knees and sighed. "Yes, Dad, there is something troubling me," she said. "It's not about where we're going though. It's about what comes from there."

Then a small realisation crept into Daniel's mind as he began to suspect what he thought might be the reason. "Would you be referring to the Lunar-4 incidents by any chance?" he asked.

Beth nodded. "Yes, Dad," she said sadly. "Your suspicions are indeed correct. Do I really need to say anymore?"

Daniel paused. "No. No, you don't," he said, not sounding cross anymore. He leant forwards in his chair. "Beth, listen to me. I understand now why you're afraid and I don't blame you in the slightest. But there are people out there who are in serious danger. I need you to be focused, especially in such a hostile and unknown environment such as Mars. I also need you to be brave. Can you promise me that?"

Beth looked at her father's hologram and nodded. "I'll try, Dad," she said. "I promise."

Daniel smiled. "Good girl," he said. "Let us know when you've reached Mars and we'll take it from there. Thunderbird 2, out."

After Daniel had signed off, Adrienne and Karolina looked at Beth. Now they understood the reason why Beth wasn't acting her usual self. As Beth looked down at her knees again, her mind began to drift off to an event that had occurred during the year before. It was the darkest day in International Rescue's history - a day that she and the others always tried very hard to forget!

***Flashback Begin***

August 2068 – the year that a series of tragic mishaps had taken place in space and on the Moon. A botched expedition to Mars had seen a three-ship convoy head out only for one to return. One of the crewmen had brought a chunk of Martian rock back from Mars which he'd been forced to hand over to Commander Kris Blake of Lunar-1. The rock had been put into cold storage in Lunar-4 when the base was mysteriously destroyed shortly afterwards. It was later revealed that the piece of rock had been part of a Martian Rock Snake like the ones first discovered by the Zero-X mission in 2065. International Rescue managed to destroy the snake but a few months later found themselves back on the Moon battling an entire army of snakes along with the Lunar Forces. It was whilst trying to rescue a platoon of troops trapped by the snakes that it happened.

Beth, Adrienne, Wizzy and Katie were just helping the last of the troops into the Lunar Transport provided by Commander Blake. Daniel and Laura were having a tough time keeping the snakes distracted by shooting at them with their laser guns. With so many snakes around it was difficult to tell if they were winning or not.

"We're going to have to fall back to the Hopper!" Laura called over the radios in their helmets. "We don't have the firepower to deal with them!"

"Agreed!" Daniel called back. "You go on ahead, Laura. I'll cover you!"

"But, Dad…"

"DON'T ARGUE WITH ME, JUST GO!" Daniel shouted.

Laura hurried on ahead with Daniel shooting at the Rock Snake which had its sinister red eye looking down at her. The shots from his gun did the trick only for him to become the snake's target instead. As it blasted a ball of fire from its mouth at him, he made a run for safety only to trip on a chunk of Moon Rock and fall over. Due to there being no gravity, he ended up bouncing along the ground.

Beth saw Daniel fall and rushed out to help him just as Laura got back to the Moon-Hopper. As Daniel picked himself up, he looked round to see the snake looking over him. It's bright red eye stared at him coldly and there was an orange glow beginning to form inside its mouth. It was about to fire at him again.

"DAD! MOVE!" Beth screamed pushing Daniel aside. Daniel was now out of harm's way, but now it was Beth who found herself in the snake's line of fire. As her wide-eyes looked into the sinister red one of the snake, there was a loud whoosh as flame shot out from the snake's mouth and blasted Beth backwards.

"AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!" Beth yelled as she slammed into a large rock.

"BETH!" screamed Laura, Katie and Adrienne in horror.

Daniel saw it too and as Beth rolled over towards him, he could see that her helmet visor was cracked. "Beth?!" he exclaimed. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" He let out a roar of rage and blasted the Rock Snake with his laser-gun. The snake was obliterated and now lay dead in several pieces. With it destroyed, Daniel ran over to Beth and looked at her helmet. It was cracked badly and Beth's eyes were closed. She appeared to be unconscious as Laura came running over to help.

"Oh, my God, is she hurt?" Laura asked urgently.

"I don't know," Daniel replied. "Help me get her into the Hopper."

As quickly as they could, Daniel and Laura picked Beth up and carried her back to the waiting Moon-Hopper. There were more Rock Snakes nearby so as soon as they were aboard, Kris started up the motors and made a hasty retreat away from the danger area.

Daniel and Laura laid Beth down on the floor of the Hopper and Daniel removed her helmet. It quickly became apparent that not only was Beth unconscious, but it didn't look as though she was breathing.

Laura put her ear on her sister's chest. "I…I can't hear her heartbeat…" she said, her voice sounding shaky.

Daniel blew air into Beth's mouth from his own and began pushing on her chest. He did it about three times whilst Laura, Katie, Adrienne, Wizzy and the troops they'd rescued looked on with fear and concern in their eyes.

After trying another two times, Daniel stopped pushing and fell back against the side of the Hopper. As he did so, the most horrible sick feeling entered the four girls' stomachs. This could only mean one thing.

"Oh, my God!" Katie gasped.

"No, please, no!" cried Wizzy, her hand covering her mouth.

"This can't be happening!" Adrienne moaned.

Laura looked at Daniel. "Dad…" she said, her eyes were beginning to fill with tears. "Please don't say it! Please!"

But Daniel did say it after about a ten second pause. "She's dead."

***Flashback End***

"Beth?"

Beth snapped out of her trance. "Huh? What is it?" she asked Adrienne.

"Look ahead," said Karolina.

Beth looked out of Thunderbird 3's cockpit windows. She froze slightly at the sight of the big red ball ahead of them which was Mars.

"Are you up for this?" Adrienne asked.

Beth hesitated, but nodded. "Yes, I am," she said defiantly. "I'm not going to let my fear get the better of me!"

Karolina and Adrienne were impressed with Beth's determination after the way she'd been acting. They were glad that Daniel had been able to get her to open up about it so they now felt better as well.

* * *

Thunderbird 3 soon reached Mars' orbit and began to descend towards the planet's surface. It reminded them a lot of being on the Moon, except for the colour of the rocks and ground being a reddish-brown colour rather than grey. It was quite a breath-taking sight as they made their way along towards where the Compass Mining complex was located.

"Gosh," said Karolina. "I never thought I'd say this about another world but, it's beautiful!"

"I wouldn't like to live here though," remarked Adrienne. "I can't think why NASA want to build a big human colony on here."

"They couldn't anyway," said Beth. "Not with those things lurking around."

Karolina and Adrienne agreed. The Rock Snakes had caused enough trouble for those living on the Moon. It hadn't escaped their minds that they might possibly be the cause of this incident, but as they flew over the surface of Mars, they couldn't see any rock-formations that matched how they looked when they were asleep which a typical coil.

"There's the complex," said Adrienne suddenly recognising the big and odd-looking building that Kerry had shown them via hologram. "What a strange angle for it to be at though."

Beth looked down at the ground and saw several large cracks that still looked fresh. "I think they may have been right," she said. "Looks like there has been some kind of earthquake here."

"We'd best get down there and find the miners," said Karolina. "Let's hope we're not too late."

Adrienne and Beth agreed as they manoeuvred Thunderbird 3 from horizontal to vertical flying and using the main thrusters to gently land on the surface of Mars roughly fifty meters from the complex.

After putting on their helmets, the three girls exited Thunderbird 3 through the side hatch on their spaceboards with Karolina riding on Adrienne's with her. They soon reached the complex and found the airlock. However, they thought it would be best to try and make contact before trying to get in. Beth soon found a window and looking through, she could see Kasia, Adriana, Paris, Grace and Klaudia by the shaft holding onto the cables that were attached to those working down in the shaft.

"How are we going to get their attention?" asked Adrienne.

Beth knocked hard against the glass. At first, it didn't seem as they'd heard her, but as she did it a second time, Paris turned her head to look. She almost let go of her cable in excitement.

"Guys, look!" Paris said. "There's people outside!"

Klaudia, Grace, Adriana and Kasia looked round and could see them now as well. Kasia raced hurriedly over to the window. The glass was too thick for them to talk through but Kasia already knew that they would want to come through the airlock so she directed them to it and operated the controls to let them in.

"Hi there," said Adrienne once the inner airlock doors had opened and they could take off their helmets. "We're International Rescue."

Kasia almost had tears of joy in her eyes. "Thank goodness you're here," she said. "We hoped Gareth would have called for someone to come and help us."

"What's the situation?" asked Karolina. "Have you got people trapped down below?"

"Yes, there are seven," said Kasia as she led them over to the shaft. "The ground shifted during the earthquake and changed the shape of the shaft rendering our elevator cage useless," she explained. "My second team is busy putting it back into shape but we'd be grateful if you could go down and find them for us."

"No problem," said Adrienne. "We'll get to it."

The three girls peered down the shaft and saw that Stuart, Connor, Lucy and Faye had been able to make the gap a lot wider meaning they'd have no trouble getting through.

"We'll leave our boards here," Adrienne said. "We'll descend via grapple."

"F-A-B," said Beth and Karolina. They got out their grappling guns and attached them to the roof of the shaft before lowering themselves down. Connor, Lucy, Faye and Stuart had to briefly stop whilst they passed through and would have to wait until they were out of harm's way before continuing.

Once they had reached the bottom of the shaft, Adrienne made contact with Thunderbird 5 and Tracy Island. "Dad, Kerry, we're down the mine, but there are three tunnels here and we're not sure where to start. Any suggestions?"

"Use your watches to make scans of your surroundings," said Jodie. "That'll enable us to make a 3-D map of the tunnel network and possibly even detect where the miners are."

Agreeing with Jodie's suggestion, Karolina, Beth and Adrienne each stood in front of a tunnel and sent out a long-range scanning beam from their watches to map out the route ahead of them. as the beams travelled down through the tunnels, they sent images back to both Tracy Island and Thunderbird 5 for the others to see. Soon they had a pretty good idea of certainly part of the underground cavern network.

"Hmm, they could be anywhere," said Kerry. "I think the best thing is for each of you to go down the tunnels in front of you and keep scanning and searching until you find them."

"I agree," said Daniel. "But be careful down there, girls. There's no knowing what's waiting for you."

"F-A-B," said the three girls and they set off down the tunnels. Karolina took the one on the left, Beth went down the middle and Adrienne did the one on the right. Using their watches as guidance, once they got towards the end of what they'd already scanned and mapped, they would stop and do it again whilst Kerry worked to put the pieces together with the help of Katrina and Becky whilst Kaylee continued to listen out for other potential distress calls.

"This is just like walking through an underground mine back on Earth," said Adrienne. "I knew there were some similarities between the two planets, but there's more than I thought."

"Oh, really?" scoffed Beth. "You didn't happen to spot any green fields with sheep growing in them by any chance?"

Adrienne went red with embarrassment, especially when she heard the sound of laughter coming over the radio.

"I see you haven't lost your sense of humour, Beth," Laura remarked.

"Er, thanks," Beth said, taken aback slightly by this. She then found the spot where Peter and José had been trapped. "Guys, I've found something," she said as she bent down to inspect the equipment still lying on the ground. "There's a very large digging drill here. must belong to one of the miners. Looks like there's been a rock-fall here too." She made another scan with her watch as she spoke.

As Kerry put the latest scans together, she noticed something strange. "Woah, that's unusual."

"What's that?" asked Daniel.

"Beth, that tunnel on your left goes upwards!" Kerry said.

Beth gulped as she looked down the tunnel. Kerry was right. It was level for about twenty feet and then went upwards almost vertically. She shivered slightly. "This looks to be fresh," she said. "Oh, God, I hope it wasn't made but what I think it might have been made by."

"Beth," Daniel's voice said sternly.

"Sorry, Dad," said Beth. "Well, one thing's for sure, I doubt the miners will be in there."

"Agreed," said Kerry. "Can you get past the rock-fall?"

"Yes, I can," said Beth. "Moving on."

Meanwhile, Karolina had reached the end of her tunnel and come into a large chamber with another large tunnel heading along back towards the other tunnels. She gasped when she looked down into a crater and saw some of the strangest-looking rocks she'd ever seen.

"Karolina?" said a voice.

Karolina jumped and looked around to see Beth had appeared. The tunnel she had been in had come out in the same large tunnel. "Hey, Beth, come look at this," she said as she activated her watch radio again. "Guys, we've found something," Karolina continued. "Sending you a scan."

"Receiving," answered Kerry.

A hologram image of what Karolina had found appeared on the screens in the Tracy Mansion lounge and Thunderbird 5. Everyone looked at it in just as much bewilderment as Karolina and Beth were.

"What the hell is that?" asked Leanna.

But before anyone could say anything, Adrienne interrupted. "Guys, I've found the miners! They're in the big cavern with a river of lava flowing through it."

"How many have you found?" asked Daniel.

"All seven," said Adrienne.

"We're on our way," said Karolina as she and Beth hurried off to meet with Adrienne and the miners. None of them noticed a couple of the strange-looking rocks begin to twitch slightly.

Becky had been observing the underground tunnels and had noticed that there were some other peculiar-shaped tunnels close to the one found by Beth. "Kerry, have you any idea what could've caused these?"

"No concrete ones," Kerry replied. "Although, I have a bad feeling that Beth might be right."

"You think a Rock Snake might have done it?" asked Katrina.

Becky's eyes widened in alarm. "Wait, there are snakes made out of rock!" she gasped.

"Yes, they were responsible for those incidents on the Moon last year," said Kaylee.

"Becky has a fear of snakes," Katrina whispered to Kerry.

"I gathered," Kerry whispered back. She began to look at the crater found by Karolina.

* * *

On Tracy Island, Jodie, Daniel and the others were also busy trying to work out what it could be. The crater itself wasn't that unusual but it was the strange rocks that were inside it that they were trying to figure out.

"It looks to me like some kind of nest," observed Katie.

"If it is, I'd hate to meet the bird that made it!" remarked Wizzy.

"Don't be ridiculous," snorted Laura. "There are no birds on Mars!"

"Laura's right," agreed Jodie. "The atmosphere is too thin to sustain life as we know it."

"Is it me, or do those rocks look like Easter Eggs?" said Cassidy, looking at the hologram.

"Yes, they do actually," agreed Sian.

"Now you know where the Easter Bunny really comes from," teased Joanne.

Everyone laughed, except for Daniel, who was looking at the image with a rather concerned look on his face.

"Son, are you okay?" asked Zoë.

"No…I'm not," said Daniel, making everyone look at him in confusion. He then got up suddenly and came over to the table for a closer look. "I hate to say this, but Katie and Cassidy are right. Well, Cassidy's almost right. That is a nest. And those are indeed eggs."

"How do you know that?" asked Rosie.

"Because I've seen something like this before," said Daniel.

"You have?" asked Laura. "Where?"

There was a five second pause before Daniel answered. "Last year – on the Moon," he said gravely.

Everyone fell silent. Worry began flooding through their veins. If Daniel was right, then the crew of Thunderbird 3 and the trapped miners were in deadly danger.

* * *

Beth and Karolina soon found Adrienne and the miners in the large cavern with the lava river running along the side.

"Hey, guys," said Beth. "How you doing?"

"A lot better now you're here," said Sarah. "Peter, José and Shannen aren't feeling too good so the sooner we get them out of there, the better."

"How do the other tunnels look?" Adrienne asked Beth and Karolina. "The one I came down was pretty bad."

"The one I was in was too," said Beth.

"Actually, the one I was in wasn't too bad," said Karolina. "There were no big rocks in the way."

"That might be our best option," said Sarah. "The oxygen levels in our suits are getting low. We'd best get out of here ASAP."

"Then let's get going," said Adrienne. She and Sarah helped Peter to his feet whilst Chloé and Richard gave Shannen and hand and josh gave José a helping hand. Karolina led the way back towards the tunnel whilst Beth waited and brought up the rear of the group.

It wasn't long before they reached the tunnels when a strange hissing noise made them all stop.

"What was that?" asked Shannen.

Everyone looked around. They couldn't see anything, but there was definitely something nearby. The hissing was gradually getting louder. Beth began to feel very uncomfortable.

"Is that a gas leak?" asked Josh.

"Sounds like a snake to me," remarked Chloé.

"If it is, it's a bloody big one!" agreed Richard.

"Wait here," Karolina said. "Beth, with me."

Beth hesitated, but followed Karolina towards one of the other tunnels that none of them had been down before. It was very dark and they couldn't see anything at first, but they saw something that made their hearts leap – a large red eye suddenly opened and looked right at them. a quick shine of their torches down the tunnel revealed what it belonged to.

"Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod!" Beth cried and started sprinting off past the rest of the group in fright.

Karolina headed after her. "EVERYONE RUN!" she shouted. "IT'S A ROCK SNAKE!"

At first nobody moved, but that quickly changed when the snake emerged from the tunnel hissing loudly. Chloé and Shannen both screamed as the guys are cried out in alarm whilst Sarah and Adrienne hastily pushed them away whilst looking just as scared. Everyone ran as fast as they could with José, Shannen and Peter having to be carried down the vast cavern with the Rock Snake in hot pursuit.

On Tracy Island and Thunderbird 5, the others had heard Beth's cry and Karolina's shout and were all sat frozen with fear themselves as they watched their trackers hurrying through the cavern. However, it didn't show them where the snake was.

"Girls, come in, what's happening?" Daniel asked urgently.

"DAD, THERE'S A ROCK SNAKE DOWN HERE!" Adrienne cried. "IT'S COMING AFTER US!"

The fear in everyone's veins spread like wildfire.

"GET OUT OF THERE, NOW!" Daniel thundered.

The snake continued to chase the group through the cavern. They were almost at the tunnel that Adrienne had come down when suddenly the snake stopped. It titled back its head and blew a fireball out from its round open mouth breaking a large chunk out of the ceiling which fell towards the group below.

"LOOK OUT, RUN!" shouted Karolina as everyone ran desperately towards the tunnel. But only Beth made it into the tunnel before the rocks came crashing down and blocking it off.

"BETH, NO!" Adrienne screamed, panic filling through her veins. She hadn't seen whether Beth had made it through into the tunnel or not. However, her attention was quickly switched back to the snake which was coming towards them again.

Karolina then spotted a small cave just before the tunnel. "EVERYONE, GET IN THAT CAVE!" she shouted. As the others raced to get into the safety of the small cave, Karolina threw a light grenade at the snake. The explosion caused a bright light which blinded it long enough for everyone to get in the cave. The cave was just big enough for them all to get in and was just wide enough for them to keep back out of the sight of the entrance. They all sat, shaking and waiting, hoping the snake hadn't realised where they were.

Beth didn't stop running until she reached the bottom of the elevator shaft. It wasn't until she stopped that she realised there was nobody with her. "What? Where are they?" she asked.

"Beth! Adie! Karolina!" Daniel's voice said urgently over the radio. "What's happening out there? Someone talk to me!"

"Dad, it's me!" Beth gasped. "Something's happened – the others were right behind me, and now they're not!"

"According to the map, they're still in that big cavern," said Kerry. "I've still got signal from both of them."

"In the cavern?!" Beth cried. "But that's where the snake is!"

"Beth, calm down, they're still alive," said Daniel. "But something's stopped them from following you. Go back and see what it is."

But Beth didn't answer. Instead, she fell against the wall and slid down, eyes pouring out from her eyes. "What have I done?" she sobbed. "I let my fear take hold. I panicked and ran! And now I've left the others behind with the snake!" She buried her head in her knees and sobbed even harder.

"Beth?" Daniel's voice said over her radio. "Beth, can you hear me? Beth?"

Beth could not hear Daniel. She was shaking too much. Her eyes were closed and horrible visions were flooding through her mind. At the same time, the rumbling and shaking of the ground around her made it all a lot more frightening.

"Beth, what's going on?" Daniel continued. "Beth? BETH! ANSWER ME!"

From inside the cave, Adrienne's legs trembled as she peered out the small entrance. She dived back for cover when she realised that the snake was right outside, lowering its head down, hissing loudly and searching furiously for its prey.


	4. Act III

Beth opened her eyes. Everything around her had turned black except for one light that appeared to be shining down on her. Then four figures emerged from the darkness in front of her. One of them was Daniel looking angrier than she'd ever know him to be. Behind him were Laura, Katie and Wizzy looking at her in disgust. "YOU ABANDONED THEM, BETH!" Daniel was shouting. "YOU LEFT THEM TO DIE! INCLUDING YOUR OWN SISTER! YOU ARE A TOTAL DISGRACE TO INTERNATIONAL RESCUE, AND THIS FAMILY!"

Beth began to cry and she shook her head to shake the vision out. "No!" she wailed. "Stop! There was nothing I could do!"

"GET OFF OUR ISLAND!" Daniel bellowed. "AND DON'T EVER COME BACK!"

"NO!" Beth screamed.

The vision of Daniel and her sisters had now gone. But now there was a new one. Beth found herself tied to a chair with a bag over her head. As she tried to pull herself free, she heard footsteps approaching. The bag was then pulled off her head and she found herself looking into the sinister eyes of…The Hood.

"Oh, God!" Beth gasped in terror. "Not you!"

The Hood cackled. "Yes, Beth. it is me. And may I congratulate you for causing such a magnificent rift between you and your family. International Rescue no longer exists thanks to you. Your father and sisters could not possibly keep things going without you or your other sister, whom you left to die on Mars."

"Shut up!" Beth cried. "I would never leave my sister behind!"

"Ah, but you did," said The Hood. "And now your father has banished you from Tracy Island forever. Now it'll be all the more easier for me and my forces to invade the island and take the Thunderbird machines for myself. And you, my dear, are going to help me."

"No!" Beth cried. "NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

***Flashback Begin***

The doors of the Lunar-1 inner airlock opened to allow the grief-stricken International Rescue team to enter with Daniel carrying his deceased daughter's body in his arms. Everyone on the base had stopped in their tracks, watching in shock at the sight. Rosie was waiting by the control room with Dr Thomas Mitchell, the medical officer of Lunar-1. They took Beth's body from Daniel and laid her down on wheel-stretcher before taking her away. Rosie looked at Daniel and the four remaining Tracy sisters – all of them had tears rolling down their cheeks. Somehow, Daniel didn't have any tears, but he certainly looked as though he was close to crying.

Rosie put her hand on Daniel's right arm. "How long has she been dead?" she asked quietly.

Daniel sniffed. "About twenty minutes," he said quietly.

Rosie looked at her watch. "Then we'd better start quickly," she said. "I can't promise you anything, Mr Tracy. But there might a chance." She then hurried off towards the medical bay leaving Daniel and the girls looking very puzzled indeed.

"What the hell is she talking about?" asked Katie.

"I don't know, Katie," Daniel replied. "But I'm going to find out."

They followed Rosie to the medical centre and went into the viewing gallery. Inside they could see Rosie and Dr Mitchell had placed Beth inside a large machine. It was connected to some oxygen tanks and had a compressor device which began pushing against her chest.

"Is…Rosie trying to revive her?" Adrienne asked.

"It certainly looks that way," agreed Laura.

"Is that even possible?" asked Wizzy.

"She said to me that there might still be a chance," said Daniel. "Let's not get too hopeful, but let's hope she can succeed."

There was nothing any of them could do now but watch, wait and hope.

Not a lot happened for the next hour and three-quarters. The machine continued to operate on Beth whilst Rosie and Dr Mitchell watched closely. A nurse was also in there watching a heart monitor machine for any sign of a pulse.

Daniel and the girls remained in the viewing gallery and waited in silence. Kris then arrived having finished dealing with some of NASA's top brass. She was looking rather flustered. "What's the word, Daniel?" she asked.

"Nothing," Daniel replied grimly. "I was really hoping this would work. But it's been almost two hours now. Surely if it Beth was going to be revived she would have been by now."

Kris took hold of Daniel's arm and gave it a friendly squeeze. At the back of the room, Laura had her arm round Wizzy whose head was resting on her shoulder whilst Katie and Adrienne sat looking miserably down on the floor.

Inside the operating theatre, Dr Mitchell and Rosie were starting to lose hope as well. "This should've worked by now," said Dr Mitchell. "I'm sorry, Dr Hall. But it looks like we've failed."

Rosie looked up at the clock on the wall. The time was 23:50. "We'll keep it going until just after midnight," she said. "I can't see there being much hope after that."

Hearing this brought tears to the girls' eyes. There was no loud sobbing, just silent weeping. Daniel screwed up his eyes and rested his head against the glass whilst Kris rubbed his back comfortingly.

But then, there came a different tone from the heart monitor. "Dr Mitchell!" said the nurse. "There was a flutter I think."

Daniel's eyes snapped open. the girls jumped up and hurried to the glass.

"Confirm please?" said Dr Mitchell.

Then the noise came again. "Yes, there's another!" said the nurse.

Now everyone was gripped with a possible new hope. Was Beth really about to come back to life? The bleeps were starting to increase.

"Her heart-rate is picking up!" exclaimed Dr Mitchell.

"Come on, Beth," whispered Rosie. "Take a breath for us."

There was a few moments pause before there came a gasp from within the machine. Beth's head moved slightly.

"There it is!" said Dr Mitchell. "She's starting to breathe!"

Rosie looked over at the viewing gallery and grinned giving them a 'thumbs-up' at the same time. Daniel and the girls instantly began crying with joy and hugging each other. Rosie had done it – Beth was going to be okay.

* * *

Beth was moved from the operating theatre to the Sick Bay where she was put into a bed to rest. Daniel and her sisters refused to leave her bedside until she'd come round. Rosie had no idea how long it would take her for to wake up but Daniel said they'd stay there as long as it took. It however took a lot longer than they expected and one-by-one they started to fall asleep.

Soon, only Daniel was left awake but he too started to feel his eyes getting heavier. He looked round at Laura, Katie, Adrienne and Wizzy who were either lying down on the floor, each other or one of the other beds and sighed.

"Oh, Beth," Daniel sighed sadly. "Why did I let this happen? I've dedicated my life to saving those in peril - yet I put my own children in danger every day. Maybe Liz was right. Maybe I should not have asked you all to be a part of this." He had his hand on Beth's and stroked it gently.

Then suddenly, Daniel felt grip on his hand. He looked to see that Beth's fingers had closed around his own. Then he looked over at her. Her eyes were opening. She turned her head and looked at him. "D-Dad?"

"Beth…" Daniel's eyes began to fill with tears and a huge grin spread across his face.

Beth sat up as the two embraced.

"Dad, where am I?" Beth asked. "What…what happened?"

Daniel smiled happily. "Welcome back to the land of the living," he said.

Laura, who had heard Daniel's voice, opened her own eyes and looked up at him. When she saw Beth was awake she jumped up and ran to hug her sister. "Oh, God, Beth! You're back!" she sobbed.

Katie, Wizzy and Adrienne then woke up as well. They too had to run to their sister and embrace her as well.

"Er, thanks," Beth said confused. "What's all the fuss about though? It's not like I'm dead or anything like that."

The others looked at each other. Daniel decided to break the news. "You were," he said.

Beth stared. "What?!" she exclaimed.

"You were dead, Beth - for just under two hours," Daniel said.

"Don't you remember what happened?" asked Wizzy.

Beth tried to think back. "I…I haven't a clue," she said. And then suddenly it began to come back to her. "The Rock Snake!" she gasped. She then began to look around, panicky. "Where is it?!"

"Hey, relax, it's gone," Daniel said. "I blew it to hell."

Beth let out a gasp and fell back against her pillow. Then screwed up her face and began to cry. "Oh, God!" she cried. Everything seemed to go black.

"Beth?" Daniel's voice called out. "Beth?"

**Flashback End***

"BETH! ANSWER ME!"

Beth had finally snapped out of her trance. She stood up defiantly. "I'm here, Dad," she said. "I may be scared of the Rock Snake, but there's NO way I'm letting it do what the one on the Moon did to us!"

"Beth, two of the tunnels are blocked," Kerry said. "You'll have to use the one nearest the nest."

"Nest?!" Beth said. "You mean those rocks are eggs?"

"Affirmative," said Daniel. "I saw one just like that one on the Moon."

A broad grin spread across Beth's face. "That's it!" she said. "I've just had an idea!" She pressed the face of her watch.

At the top of the shaft, Kasia, Adriana and her team – who by now had made the shaft big enough again were startled when one of the spaceboards suddenly came to life and raced down the shaft to where Beth was waiting for it. She jumped onto the board and headed off down the tunnel. She soon reached the cavern where the nest was located and looked around. She could see the rocks were twitching.

"Oh, my God!" Beth gasped. "Dad, these eggs are about to hatch!"

"Beth, you need to get away from there!" warned Daniel. "They might mistake you for their mother if they see you."

But Beth quickly realised that she could not let that happen. The one Rock Snake on its own was bad enough. "Sorry, Dad," she said as she took a small demolition grenade out from her utility belt, "but I'm afraid they won't get to see their mother, let alone me!" She threw the grenade into the nest and raced away as quickly as the board would carry her.

BOOM! The grenade exploded, completely destroying the nest and all the eggs that were in it. The snake, which had been looking around near the cave for the others screeched loudly and raced away to see what had happened. Beth kept herself concealed as it came slithering past her before setting off to find the others once it had passed. The snake soon reached the nest and looked at the scene of destruction. It began to make a crying sound as it mourned the loss of its offspring.

As Karolina came out of the cave, she saw Beth approaching on her spaceboard. "Beth, there you are! What's going on?" she asked.

Adrienne came out as well. "Where the hell did you go?" she demanded.

"I thought you were right behind me," Beth answered. "We need to move now before it comes back."

"What was that explosion?" asked Karolina.

"I knew that it would go running to its nest once I blew it up," said Beth.

"You did what?!" Daniel, Kerry, Adrienne and Karolina all exclaimed at the same time.

"Yes!" said Beth defiantly. "Call it payback for what the one on the Moon did to us! Now, let's move!"

As well as calling for her board, Beth had also put on her powerful hand blasters which she used to clear the rocks blocking the tunnel whilst Karolina and Adrienne helped the miners out of the cave. As they made their way into the tunnel, they heard a loud shriek coming from back down the cavern accompanied by a deep rumble as everything started shaking again.

"Oh, no!" cried Chloé. "It's coming back!"

"MOVE IT!" bellowed Sarah as they sprinted off back down the tunnel. Beth waited for Adrienne and Karolina to enter before heading after them. it wasn't long before they reached the shaft and got into the elevator. The earthquake began to get stronger.

"We have to get out of here!" Grace said to Kasia. "This whole place is going to come down!

"NO!" Kasia thundered. "Not until everyone is out!"

The elevator winch started to lift the cage up with the seven miners plus Karolina and Adrienne inside it. There wasn't enough room for both Beth and her board so she headed up first with the cage following behind her. As it reached the top and they began to disembark, there came a loud crashing sound from further along the complex. Everyone turned to see the Rock Snake come bursting out of the floor. Its eye looked even redder than before and it was shrieking in fury.

"EVERYONE, MOVE!" bellowed Beth.

Nobody needed telling twice.

"EVERYONE, GET TO THE SHUTTLE!" Kasia shouted.

"LEAVE YOUR GEAR, COME ON!" yelled Adriana.

Everyone ran, but Beth decided to take a stand and began firing her hand-blasters at the snake in order to distract it.

"BETH, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Daniel shouted over the radio. "THE GROUND IS BREAKING APART! GET OUT OF THERE!"

"Not until everyone is out!" said Beth defiantly. She had to dodge as the snake blew a fireball at her. It missed but shattered the big window causing a decompression. Alarms and red lights sounded and the suction pulled Beth backwards out through the destroyed window.

"BETH!" screamed Adrienne.

But Beth recovered quickly. She could see the miners all hurrying aboard the company shuttle that was sitting on the landing pad. She looked back into the complex and dodged again as the snake fired another ball of flame in her direction. As she raced back towards Thunderbird 3 after Adrienne and Karolina, she could see the ground around the base of the complex and her rocket was cracking badly. The complex building itself began tilting even further.

* * *

Grace and Klaudia were the last to get inside the shuttle and Adriana closed the hatch. "Kasia, we're all here!" she said into a PA microphone.

"Everyone, hang on!" Kasia ordered as she fired up the shuttle's engines. Despite the slight angle, the shuttle was able to lift up off the landing pad and climb away from the danger.

Beth, Adrienne and Karolina hurried back towards Thunderbird 3. But suddenly the ground beneath them burst open and the Rock Snake emerged. It now stood between them and Thunderbird 3. It's eye seemed to have turned even more red for it was more than furious.

Beth moved in front of Adrienne and Karolina and then stared defiantly into the snake's eye. "I'm not afraid of you anymore!" she shouted. "You want me? Come get me!"

Before Adrienne or Karolina could say anything, Beth turned on her spaceboard and raced away from them. The snake roared and set off after her.

"BETH!" shouted Adrienne. She was about to go after her when Karolina stopped her.

"Adie! The ground! Thunderbird 3!" Karolina shouted.

Adrienne looked down and saw the ground around Thunderbird 3 was breaking up. If she didn't act now it would collapse and take Thunderbird 3 down with it along with the rest of the complex. If that happened, they would be stranded. With huge reluctance, Adrienne was forced back into Thunderbird 3. As quickly as she could, she fired up the engines and they blasted off from the surface. The complex was on the verge of sinking into the ground for good now, but nobody paid it any attention as Thunderbird 3 set off after Beth and the Rock Snake.

Beth used her skills to weave about in order to dodge the fireballs from the snake. However there was nowhere for her to hide as they were in open ground so no matter which way she went, the snake was able to see and follow her.

"Hold on, Beth, we're coming!" Adrienne called over the radio.

Beth glanced back and could see Thunderbird 3 approaching. But she couldn't be sure that it would get to her in time. Looking round, she then saw something. There was a cliff to her left which overlooked a large river of lava. The gap between this cliff and the one opposite was too wide for the snake to make it across. "I've got only one shot at this," Beth said. "Here goes."

Adrienne and Karolina gasped in shock when they saw where Beth was heading for.

"Beth, are you crazy?!" Karolina cried over the radio. "What are you doing?!"

"What does it look like?" Beth retorted. "I'm going to cross that ravine. The snake won't be able to get to me over there."

Suddenly the snake fired another ball. The explosion as it hit the ground knocked Beth off her board. She rolled along the ground and then disappeared over the edge.

"NO!" screamed Karolina and Adrienne together.

Daniel jumped out of his seat. Everyone else just sat frozen with fear. Surely they could not have just lost Beth again.

The snake continued to race forwards. Unlike Beth, it had no idea what it was heading for and by the time it reached the ravine it was too late. Beth, who had managed to grab a rock to stop herself falling watched as its forward momentum carried it over the edge and it plunged down shrieking as it went into the lava below.

Adrienne left Karolina at the controls as she headed out on her spaceboard to look for her sister. Fear gripped her from inside as she flew over the ravine and looked down at the lava below. But then she saw Beth clinging onto the rocks and waving to her.

"Beth!" Adrienne gasped flying over and grabbing hold of her so she could let go of the rocks. "Oh, my God!" she added as the two sisters embraced. "I thought I'd lost you again!"

"That wasn't planned," Beth replied. "Thank you for coming to get me."

The two sisters looked into each other's eyes.

"Just promise me something," Adrienne asked. "Please don't ever do that to us again."

Beth smiled. "Never," she said.

They then headed back up to Thunderbird 3 where Karolina was waiting for them.

"Beth! Oh, thank God, you're safe!" Karolina gasped giving Beth a big hug as well.

* * *

Time had finally run out for the Mining Complex. Everyone aboard Thunderbird 3 and the shuttle watched as the complex disappeared into the lava leaving nothing but a large orange lake in the spot where it had been just moments before.

"Thunderbird 3, do you read me?" Daniel's voice asked urgently.

"It's okay, Dad," Beth answered. "We're okay. Everyone's okay. We made it out in time."

Daniel, Kerry and the rest of the International Rescue team breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"Thank God," said Daniel. "You really had us scared there, Beth."

"Sorry," Beth replied. "I'm not proud of what I did down there, but I couldn't lose any of my family members in the way you nearly lost me."

Adrienne and Karolina felt deeply touched by this.

"What happened to the snake?" asked Katie.

"It's gone, Katie," Beth replied. "It fell into the lava river. It'll never be a problem again."

"Good to hear. Get yourselves home and we can have a party," said Daniel. "I think you all deserve it after what you've just been through."

Delighted, the crew of Thunderbird 3 escorted the Compass shuttle until they were clear of Mars' orbit.

"You're all clear, Compass 1," Beth said over the radio. "Have a safe journey back to Earth."

"You too, International Rescue," answered Kasia. "We can't thank you enough for what you've done for us today."

"Any time," said Beth. "Sorry we can't give you a tow."

"That's okay, we'll be fine," said Kasia. "Thank you again."

Looking out from the cockpit, they could see Adriana, Sarah, Grace and both teams of miners waving happily to them. they waved back and Beth fired up the ion-fusion engine. Kasia and Adriana watched almost enviously from the shuttle cockpit as Thunderbird 3 zoomed off into space and disappeared. It would take three weeks for the Compass shuttle to get to Earth, but at this moment, nobody aboard the shuttle really cared about that. They were just glad to be alive and heading home.

"So, Beth?" Adrienne said. "Are you still scared of the Rock Snakes?"

"Of course," Beth replied. But she was all smiles. "But now that I've faced one again and survived, I think I'll be sleeping a lot better tonight – so long as nobody drags me out of bed tomorrow morning."

The three girls all laughed as Thunderbird 3 headed back towards Earth. It really felt good to be going home again.

* * *

As Thunderbird 3 returned to Earth and made its final approach to Tracy Island, preparations for the party were just being finished off. The barbecue had been lit. Everyone had their party clothes on and the food was being sorted out when they heard a distant rumble in the sky.

"There they are!" Sian called.

Everyone looked up to see the distinctive shape of Thunderbird 3 coming down towards them. They all cheered and waved as it gently eased down through the roundhouse to land back in its silo.

It wasn't long before Beth, Adrienne and Karolina rejoined the rest of the team on the lido and got an even bigger cheer than the previous one.

"So good to have you back," Daniel said as he hugged his daughter.

"It's good to be back," Beth replied. Then she suddenly remembered the two nightmare visions that she'd had on Mars. "Dad, can I ask you something - in private?"

"Sure," said Daniel. "Excuse us," he said to the others as he and Beth went to a quiet spot round the side of the mansion. "What is it?"

"On Mars, when you were trying to talk to me, I was having these…nightmares," Beth said. "I had one of you. You were shouting at me. Calling me a disgrace because I'd let everyone down there die. And you told me to leave."

Daniel was shocked. "Hey," he said pulling Beth tightly. "You get those thoughts out of your head this minute! No way in heaven, hell or on Earth would I cast any member of my family out!"

Beth looked into her Dad's eyes tearfully. "I'm sorry," she sniffed.

"Hey, we'll have none of these," said Daniel wiping Beth's tears away with his finger. "You went back and faced your fear. And you managed to get everyone out safely. You did brilliantly, Beth. I'm proud of you."

Beth just beamed.

* * *

They returned to the party just as Joanne was dishing up some burgers. "There you go, sweeties," she said. She passed one to Beth and then one to Daniel.

"Mmm," said Beth as she took a big bite out of the burger. "Delicious!"

Laura, Wizzy and Katie had got out some guitars, ukuleles and bongo drums and were playing music for everyone. Cassidy and Sian were dancing which was providing a fair bit of amusement for everyone else.

"Catchy," said Daniel. "I feel a song coming on."

"How about this one, Dad?" asked Wizzy as she started beating on the bongos.

"Ah, yes!" said Daniel. He put his now empty plate down and took Beth's own off her. "Shall we?" he asked.

"Most certainly," she replied.

Joanne, Sian, Cassidy, Karolina and Adrienne moved out of the way of the dance floor to allow Daniel and Beth to perform the song that matched the tune.

Daniel began the singing off.

"Sometimes I get the feelin'

I was back in the old days, long ago

When we were kids, when we were young

Things seemed so perfect, you know?"

"The days were endless, we were crazy, we were young

The sun was always shinin', we just lived for fun

Sometimes it seems like lately, I just don't know

The rest of my life's been, just a show."

"Those are the days of our lives

The bad things in life were so few

Those days are all gone now but one thing is true

When I look and I find I still love you."

"You can't turn back the clock, you can't turn back the tide

Ain't that a shame?

Ooh, I'd like to go back one time on a roller coaster ride

When life was just a game."

"No use in sitting and thinkin' on what you did

When you can lay back and enjoy it through your kids

Sometimes it seems like lately, I just don't know

Better sit back and go, with the flow."

"These are the days of our lives

They've flown in the swiftness of time

These days are all gone now but some things remain

When I look and I find, no change."

"Those were the days of our lives, yeah

The bad things in life were so few

Those days are all gone now but one thing's still true

When I look and I find, I still love you."

And to finish off, Daniel took Beth in his arms and said:

"I still love you."

* * *

Millions of miles away from Earth, deep beneath the surface of Mars in the now dramatically reshaped tunnels that had been a part of the Compass Mining Complex, one rock egg remained unaffected by Beth's grenade. It wobbled slightly, and then began to crack. Very slowly, the top of the shell broke away and the head of a baby Rock Snake slowly began to emerge.


End file.
